


why did it have to be her?

by joyfulwriting



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, James is a worried bf, and his friends are worried too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 05:08:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15834354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyfulwriting/pseuds/joyfulwriting
Summary: James would do anything for Ina, so when she ends up in the hospital, he can’t do anything except.. well, wait.





	why did it have to be her?

**Author's Note:**

> This took me like a whole day but I finished it! Thank you to the leiffin discord for all the headcanons and ideas, y’all are the real mvps. Enjoy!

James’s ears were ringing, sounds of gunfire from their side and the Galra were almost deafening. But as of right now, all he saw was red, he was beyond furious. 

He was shielding his wounded squad member, Ina Leifsdottir. He had heard her cry out before, and he had gotten there to see that she was on the ground, a pool of blood gushing out of a wound on her head. James couldn’t focus on anything else except protecting her in that moment, taking out as many Galra soldiers as he could because they hurt her. 

They had retreated, eventually, and he scooped her carefully into his arms, tears threatening to spill down his cheeks at any moment because oh god she looked really bad. She was limp in his arms like a rag doll, her breathing shallow and pale from all the blood loss. Ryan and Nadia met him halfway with medics, but James wouldn’t let them touch her, he was afraid that if he let her go that.. well, she’d die. 

“No! Don’t touch her, I’ll carry her back myself if I have to.” He had snapped, cradling her head carefully. “No, Rizavi I won’t—“

“You have to! Just give her to them James, they’ll take care of her.” Nadia begged, putting her hand on his shoulder while Ryan did the same on his other side. “Please..”

James looked down at her again, feeling the tears coming on once again. She looked so.. tiny, in his arms, so small. He looked back up at Nadia and Ryan, who just nodded at him. He sighed and reluctantly handed her to the medics, who rushed her back, leaving her three squad mates behind. 

————————

It seemed like he was waiting an eternity, just waiting for news to see whether Ina was okay. Ryan and Nadia sat on either side of him on the couch, and to his surprise, the Paladins Of Voltron, plus the Alteans, waited with him too. Keith had walked in with the rest of the Paladins in tow, even with his giant space dog wolf thing. It had walked over to him and nudged his hand, whining. When James didn’t respond or rub it’s head, it laid down at his feet.

“Kosmo is just worried, it’s kind of like when a normal dog senses that it’s human is sad.” Keith had tried to make light conversation, but it was no use. Plus Keith never made small talk, it was only to fill up the deafening silence. 

In reality, it was about three hours they had to wait before a doctor came in. James stood up quickly, a flicker of hope in his eyes. Maybe she was okay, maybe it wasn’t as bad as he thought it was, maybe she awake and waiting for him right now. 

But alas, that wasn’t the case. 

He had zoned out after he heard the word ‘coma’, and promptly made a beeline for the med bay, to her room. He heard nurses shout for him to stop, but he didn’t, not until he reached Ina’s room, and when he did get there, what he saw nearly knocked the wind out of him.

Ina’s head was wrapped up, and she had a mask over her mouth and nose to help her breathe. There were lots of machines beeping, keeping her alive pretty much. He walked into the room, pulling up a chair and sitting next to her bed, squeezing her hand gently as he laid his head on her bed and started crying. How could he let this happen? How could he leave her alone, all alone to get hurt? 

The others had followed him, and were standing outside the room looking in the window. Nadia burst into tears, turning to Ryan, who hugged her tightly. Both of their friends were out of commission, one physically, and the other mentally. The Paladins gave them their space, for they knew what it was like to be worried over a wounded teammate.

Eventually they all dispersed, leaving Nadia and Ryan with James and Ina. James hadn’t moved from his position, where his hand was holding hers, and he didn’t intend to move from that spot until she woke up. Which might not be for a long time, but he didn’t care, not at all. He would waste away, he didn’t care, but he wasn’t leaving her. Never again. 

“James.. come on, you have to eat..” Ryan put his hand on his shoulder, frowning. “She’ll still be here if you go and get something to eat, change your clothes..”

But he said nothing, James just sat there, unmoving. His eyes were red and puffy from crying pretty much all afternoon and into the evening, his hand still grasping hers. 

Nadia just shook her head at him and left the room. She understood how he felt, she and Ryan were worried about Ina too. But deep down, she knew it was much more than him being a worried teammate and friend. He was in love with her, plain and simple. 

But she wasn’t going to say anything about it, to him or anyone else.

————————

The last week had been complete hell, and not just for James, but for the others as well. 

While they were worried about Ina, it was also about James, who hadn’t left her side since she had been admitted. It had been a week since he had really eaten, showered or slept properly. But he didn’t care, and would continue to not care until Ina woke up. He wasn’t going to leave her again.

It had been agreed upon among the Paladins and a few of his other friends that there would always be people in the room with the two of them, just to make sure James wasn’t dying or something. Even Veronica, who wasn’t really close with James to begin with, was worried about him and sat in the room with him and Ina for a few hours. 

But of all people, it was Hunk that was in the room with him when Ina finally came to. First, her hand had started twitching a little, and her eyes finally fluttered open. James and Hunk both stood up, Hunk immediately running out of the room to alert Nadia that she was awake, finally! 

James stared down at her, and she looked up at him, smiling weakly as she shakily removed the mask over her mouth. He had started crying again, and leaned down to gather her in his arms, holding her gently, carefully, as if he were holding a porcelain doll that might break if he squeezed too tight. He cried harder when he felt her arms wrap back around him, and when he heard her whisper to him:

“James.. are you okay?”

Meanwhile, Nadia and Ryan, as well as the others were standing outside the room, watching the scene unfold. Nadia was crying and hugging Ryan, who was holding her and crying as well. Their friends were okay, they were alright, and they couldn’t be happier. All was right again, finally.

———————

James had curled himself carefully around Ina in her hospital bed, just needing to be with her, next to her, touching her. And Ina definitely didn’t mind, well, at first she did, because he had gone a week without showering, so she had made him go and do that first. He had been reluctant, but finally agreed if when he got back, they could snuggle and talk, to which she readily agreed.

While he was gone, Nadia had stopped to check in, and they talked for a while too.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Leif.. we were all worried about you, really worried.” Nadia had sat on the end on the bed, sitting crisscrossed. “Especially James.”

“I could tell.” Ina smiled and shook her head. “He seemed like he was a wreck.”

She nodded solemnly. “He was.. he didn’t leave this room for a week. He didn’t eat or sleep or do anything in that time.” She sighed. “He’s an idiot, it took Shiro and Iverson to get him to actually drink fucking water.” 

Ina frowned and looked down at her hands, which had been bunching the blankets for the past few minutes. He hadn’t left that whole time? But.. why?

Nadia must’ve noticed her deep in thought, and smiled knowingly. “You’re probably wondering why he’d do that, and most people would probably say because he’s a worried teammate. But I think it’s a little bit more than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well—“

A light knock sounded on the door, causing both Nadia and Ina to stop and look up. James was back, his hair still slightly wet from his shower, but at least he had changed clothes. He was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants now, and looked a hell of a lot better than before. “Hey.”

Nadia winked at her and got up from the bed, waving as she left the room. “I’ll leave you guys to it. Get some rest, the both of you!” 

James shrugged and laid on the bed with her, snuggling with her carefully. She merely rolled her eyes and clung to him like her life depended on it. Could it be that.. well, that maybe James liked her? She wasn’t ashamed to admit that she had been in love with him for a while, of course it had started out as a crush, but years and years of liking him and that feeling never going away, well, it felt like love to her, even if she didn’t really know what love was. But she was sure it was this. 

“Ina?”

She looked up at him, and she was met with his face centimeters from hers. His cheeks were tinged red, and she could feel his heartbeat quicken through his shirt, and she felt hers do the same. “James..?”

His hand found hers, and soon he was holding it tightly. “I.. I need to say this, because the last week really put things into perspective for me.. when I found you I.. I thought I was going to lose you.” He started tearing up again, his bottom lip trembling. 

“James, it’s okay, I’m okay..” She smiled reassuringly, tilting her head. “I’m here, with you..”

He took a deep breath and nodded, pressing their foreheads together. “I know.. yeah, you are.. which is why I need to tell you this, before maybe someday you’re not, or I’m not with you.. I love you, Ina Leifsdottir, so damn much..”

She took a sharp breath in, feeling her face go completely red. He felt the same way.. oh wow, she never expected to get this far. “I love you too, James.. I think I have for a while, I just never knew how to get the words out..”

He smiled widely, breathing a sigh of relief. “Thank god. So um, can we.. kiss?”

Ina laughed softly and cupped his cheek with her hand, kissing him softly. The feeling of his lips on hers was something she could’ve only dreamed about before, but now it was actually happening and she couldn’t believe it. He brought both of his hands up to hold her face, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs as they both pulled away, their breathing quickened. That was.. wow. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time..” James confessed, still stroking her cheek. 

“I have to, I really have.” She smiled and rested her head on his chest, sighing loudly. “I’m sorry I worried you so much.. Nadia sort of told me..”

He sighed and wrapped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head. “Yeah I just.. kind of shut down..? I know it wasn’t my fault that you got hurt, but I left you alone, and I shouldn’t have and I, well.. yeah.”

“Well it wasn’t your fault.. but if something happens like this again promise me you’ll take care of yourself, or you’ll let other people take care of you.. I worry too you know.”

“I’m hoping this won’t happen again, but we’re in a war so I know that that’s kind of a lot to ask.” James rubbed her shoulder. “But when this is all over, I’m taking you out, on a date.”

She smiled to herself, nodding. “That sounds wonderful..”

—————————

True to his word, after the war, James did take Ina out on a date. 

It was a few months after earth had begun rebuilding after the war, a hub that was a popular place for Garrison cadets had just reopened after some renovations. So at 7:00 on a Saturday night, James took Ina out to eat. 

The night was causal, James wore a simple button up and jeans, while Ina wore a t-shirt and black leggings. There was a little bit of a breeze, and over the t-shirt Ina was wearing one of the many hoodies James left in her room (he claimed it was just because he didn’t want her to get cold, but Nadia said that it was because he totally thought she looked cute in them. Ina just thought he was forgetful at first).

They walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, James humming to himself while they went along. He looked over at her, and she was looking down at their feet, a small smile on her face. He smiled as well and pulled her closer, eliciting a yelp of surprise from her. Suddenly she was in his arms, the two of them just standing there in the middle of the sidewalk. “Hm, what is it?”

James smiled and kissed her forehead. “Just.. feeling happy, safe, finally. I can finally go out with you without any threat of war looming over us or anything.” He sighed and wrapped his arm around her waist, continuing to walk. “We’re free.”

Ina smiled and nodded. “Yeah, we are..”

The rest of the night went off without a hitch, and later that night when James was laying down to go to bed, Ina curled up in his arms, he thought that despite all they had been through, he’d go through it again. He’d go through it a hundred times, because the end result was worth it, completely and utterly worth it.


End file.
